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Winter
Jan 3, 2014 12:17:08 GMT -6
Post by koonce on Jan 3, 2014 12:17:08 GMT -6
Well as most know winter time is slow time, any one out an about braving the cold to get some training in? I had the puppy itch the last few days and as much as I want another one I am a good 5 years out before I need to start the search again.
The pooch has been up my arse the last month since season is over, he sees us putting our ice fishing stuff on and thinks its time to go hunting. Poor fella.
I havent been doing much myself in the training category, The usual marks. This past Saturday when we had that warm spell I went to one of the fields I use and ran a series of blinds. Funny how being out of a hunting situation changes how a dog runs his work. Granted almost all my hunting is done in water and today we were in a prairie grass field.
Anyone go chasing after some ditch chickens in the off season?
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Winter
Jan 9, 2014 10:09:31 GMT -6
Post by koonce on Jan 9, 2014 10:09:31 GMT -6
This cold stint has been horrible. -40s and -20s is getting old. Dogs have been cooped up to long and are turning some of that energy into destruction. I got one dog who is now turning into the garbage hound, and both of them keep stealing stuff out of the garage and trying to use them as play toys.
Gonna have to get them a treadmill for the house to keep them exercised and minds clear.
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Winter
Jan 13, 2014 10:20:16 GMT -6
Post by vandyvan on Jan 13, 2014 10:20:16 GMT -6
My buddy just brought home a new pup about 2 weeks ago. Poor thing did not like that bitter cold weather last week at all!! But he's getting used to the cold now. He's only about 10 or 12 weeks old but he showing some signs of being a good dog and growing really fast.
I'm anxious to see how well my friend can train him up. His last dog died kind of unexpectedly this past summer and he kept saying he didn't want a new one but I figured it wouldn't be too long before he changed his mind. We even saved some duck wings from this years hunts just in case and now they will come in handy for training the little guy.
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Winter
Jan 13, 2014 14:29:15 GMT -6
Post by koonce on Jan 13, 2014 14:29:15 GMT -6
Start the training now. Them little buggers learn fast as pups but obviously keep it fun and short. No correction just re-direction at that age.
I sure do miss the puppy age. I remember at 14 weeks my mutt healed like a champ, understood all basic commands, I could short cast him to his "place" and toss him paint rollers. Did my best to set him up for future success. Do wish I would have seeked more guidance when we got to the more advanced level..... Our short coming are most def my fault.
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Winter
Jan 13, 2014 15:53:30 GMT -6
Post by vandyvan on Jan 13, 2014 15:53:30 GMT -6
He's starting to put he work in with him already. It's a chocolate lab German shorthair mix and it's really cute right now. He already goes on point then attacks the cat lol. My friend is no expert dog trainer but he's had a couple and he's done pretty well with them. It's never too early to start with them like you said. At this point almost all play has some little element of the things the dog will need to know when it comes to hunting. It cool that nowadays we have so much info at our fingertips when it comes to training a dog, the hardest part is weeding out the bad info and using the good, and being consistent with the training.
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Winter
Jan 14, 2014 14:12:30 GMT -6
Post by koonce on Jan 14, 2014 14:12:30 GMT -6
Agree, some of the old info that I have read in books is very much heavy force. Getting the dog to yelp, heavy correction vs re-direction. Not trying to bash some of the older books I have as they hold a lot of info, but as times progress its seems we are getting further faster with different applications of pressure and definitely changing on how and when we use corrections or stimulation(whatever you prefer to call it).
I as well am far from a solid trainer. a beginning amateur at best. I am fortunate enough to have some old timers who ran trials back in the 80s who are close family friends and love to share there knowledge with me. Along with that I picked up some books and also a step by step dvd program. It helped me a lot.
I think I've said it a few times, I sure do miss those puppy years, all perked up and smitten.
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Winter
Jan 15, 2014 9:22:32 GMT -6
Post by vandyvan on Jan 15, 2014 9:22:32 GMT -6
The trend nowadays does seem to be getting away from the heavy corrections. Which is good I think. The least you can do and still get them to learn. This pup is still a little small to wear the e-collar but when he grows a little my friend will start letting him wear it around at times to get him used to it. Long before he actually starts using it for training.
It's also a little more challenging I think when the dog is also the family pet. It's one thing to train a dog that lives outdoors in a kennel and is basically a "working" dog as opposed to one that lives in the house with the family and kids etc. Dog that are house pets can be excellent hunters for sure. Having them in the house can even give you more time to work on little things and obedience stuff but they can also learn bad habits too.
I'm sure he'll do well with him but he doesn't expect to turn out an expert hunting dog. It wouldn't be fair to expect that anyway since were not expert hunters ourselves. lol
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Winter
Jan 15, 2014 16:53:39 GMT -6
Post by koonce on Jan 15, 2014 16:53:39 GMT -6
My working dog is also a house pet, But its does has it pit falls. he's not super hot but he is fairly high strung and requires a lot of exercise and is an attention whore. The wife prefers him inside as he is very protective, cant say the same about my apbt, he will let anyone in the house. So when I am gone it puts her at ease to have him in the house. Granted I do not run trials or dabble in that game I still think my dog is a respectable working dog and those who have hunted with me "I feel" would agree. He only hunts with us, and we only hunt in wi, with that said this year we pass 700 successful retrieves over him. If we would have had a better year I bet we could have pushed upper 700s. I am happy with what he has turned into, but as I said early he does have his pitfalls and I am def the one to blame.
On to the shock collar stuff. Even that I feel is wrongly used. I have talked to too many people who once they brief me on there dogs training give me the impression they never conditioned the dog to the collar and use It in the wrong manner. I think the collar is a great way to correct a dog that has been conditioned to it. I put one on my dog but honestly rarely use the collar, and to top if off my dog does not handle that pressure very well(maybe its the chessie in him). I have never had it above a 2 or 3 out of the 10 levels of stimulation. But as you and many other I am no expert hunter or expert dog trainer and his inability to take pressure or to much for that matter may be my fault. I did got thru collar conditioning and after force fetch I collar fetched, but after that I backed way off on using the collar. He made it thru those transitions very well and did just fine with pressure. Who knows maybe its the fact that I don't use the collar like I use to and now when I do put more pressure on him he gives me the F you.
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